Jun. 13—A group of teenagers watched Decatur Fire and Rescue recruits race up a building with a giant water hose this week as part of a house fire simulation drill and learned that quick reaction time can mean the difference between life and death.

The seven teenagers were attendees at the 2024 Cadet Camp held at the Decatur Fire and Police Training Center in Flint. Lt. Brandon Sivley said this is the camp’s third year and a few of the campers attended last year. The two-day camp concluded Wednesday.

“We just opened it up and let them see what the inside of a fire department looks like and what’s really required, and that it’s not as simple as just spraying water on a fire,” Sivley said. “We’re showing them the more intricate operations.”

Sivley began the camp by presenting each cadet with a piece of rope and a team flag, or towel, and told them they were responsible for retaining these objects until the end of the camp or face the consequences. He said this was to show the discipline required to work in the Decatur Fire Department.

Early on in the camp, the students had to learn how to unravel quickly a bundled-up fire hose. West Limestone High junior Lillie Patterson stepped up and in one swift motion unraveled several feet of hose in a straight line.

The students then witnessed firefighters in the Decatur Fire and Rescue Bridge program complete drills in the training center’s burn building.

“What we’re working on now is there’s a house fire on the second floor, and we have to be flowing water as we’re going up the stairs so we’re working on going up the stairs and making turns while spraying water,” Decatur firefighter Stephen Blakesy explained to the campers.

Sivley said the Bridge program the campers watched is the same program they would be required to complete if they want to become full-time firefighters in the state of Alabama. He said there are currently six individuals in the Bridge program, which is an intense 260-hour, six-week course designed to transition pre-certified volunteer firefighters and out-of-state hires to Alabama’s standards for full-time firefighting careers.

Sivley told the campers if they were in a scenario where they are in a smoke-filled area and cannot see, to remember three words to navigate their way back to their fire truck with their firehose: smooth, bump, bump.

“Typically, in a fire, there is no good ventilation and there’s smoke where you can’t see anything, but I can rely on the dexterity of my hands,” Sivley said. “‘Smooth, bump, bump,’ to the pump. That’s your lifeline right there.'”

The campers were then shown a fire truck with firefighters analyzing every detail, from the ladder to the hose to the fire extinguisher. Later in the day, they learned hands-only CPR, knot-tying skills and fire extinguisher use.

Clements High Junior Andrew Middlebrooks said remembering Sivley’s three-word motto about using fire hoses in smoke-filled rooms was one of his biggest takeaways of the camp. He said he plans on becoming a firefighter after he graduates high school.

“On the (hose) couplings, you have a male and a female and when your male and female hook up, with the way they run, your female is always going to be connected to the truck,” Middlebrooks said. “If you’re following your hose back out when you get to that coupling, ‘smooth, bump, and then your other bump,’ and that takes you right back to the truck, back out. If you feel ‘bump, bump, smooth,’ that lets you know you’re going back in.”

Middlebrooks attends the Limestone County Career Technical Center and said his fire and law enforcement instructor encouraged him to attend Cadet Camp this year.

“We go yearly for a state competition and we can get hired straight out of high school to the fire department,” Middlebrooks said. “So, we just came up here to get more insight and practice with it.”

In addition to Middlebrooks and Patterson, other campers included Hayden Spence, a recent Danville graduate, and Lynn High students Alyssa Cole, Micah Higginbotham, Joseph Mathews and Kodi Gaba.

Patterson intends to follow in the footsteps of her father, who is a firefighter with the Athens Fire Department. All the campers said they want to pursue a career as a firefighter, and most of them are already volunteer firefighters.

“Some of the firefighters here in Decatur have worked with my dad,” Patterson said.

Sivley said he was impressed with the initiative the campers have shown this year with their background volunteering in fire departments and said with a large upcoming class of firefighters soon to retire, the department could always use some help.

“We’re going to be rebuilding throughout the next five years, so there will be openings throughout,” Sivley said.

— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442.